AIM Horsemanship

What do you do away from horses that changes your perspective and mindset when you're with horses? For me, practicing daily yoga (even for just a few minutes on some days) helps me to become more aware of myself and anything that I might be projecting onto the horse. This helps me view behaviours from the horse more objectively instead of taking it personally or assuming why it's happening. It also helps me slow down my movements and become more present in the moment, all things I find super helpful and practical for working with horses (especially more nervous ones). Additionally, I feel like having a deeper self awareness and hopefully less judgement changes the way I view all beings in general and makes me feel more connected to the world around me (horses included). I feel like our judgements and thoughts inevitably distort the way we view things (ie. horses' behaviours) and this is all part of the human experience. Learning to become aware of this and let go of thoughts or judgements that aren't serving me helps me to create a more accurate depiction of the horse's behaviour and more effectively apply behavioural modification. Additionally, I feel like it cultivates a foundation of empathy, acceptance and compassion - all things I love to invite into my time with horses. I'm still working on my form, strength, flexibility and evolving understanding of yoga and I'm sure I always will be, but it's certainly been pivotal for me. #yoga #horses #horseyoga #spiritual #meditation #mind #mindset #compassion #empathy #acceptance

Fun, brain games, proprioception and mental stimulation training for clever pony, Grace! #horse #pony #clickertraining #liberty #forcefree #cornwall #yoga #horsebehaviourist #horsebehaviouristcornwall #vegan #gentle #equine

Grace plays football!

Fun, brain games, proprioception and mental stimulation training for clever pony, Grace! #horse #pony #clickertraining #liberty #forcefree #cornwall #yoga #horsebehaviourist #horsebehaviouristcornwall #vegan #gentle #equine

Head-collar training with rescue pony, Grace. It's one thing for a horse to accept having a headcollar put on, it's another for them to happily seek out the headcollar and actively engage in putting it on themselves. In this session, we worked on targeting the headcollar, and then putting her nose in it. From there, I gradually started bringing the headpiece behind her ears. Grace is super clever and picked it up very quickly!

Ofcourse, this is not to say the well used, mindful negative reinforcement won't work. This is to show the difference in Izzy's movement and how eager she is to train. Using a reverse round pen, long target or both can be great ways to make moving on a circle easy and fun whilst using force-free training. . . #trust #freeriding #bitless #bitlessriding #tackless #tacklessriding #bareback #bridleless #bridlelessriding #liberty #libertyriding #libertyplay #libertywork #libertytraininghorses #possitivereinforcement #positivereinforcementforhorses #clickertraininghorses #barefoothorse #horsemanship #libertyhorsemanship #freedomtothehorse #targetsticksnotwhips #vegan #equineenrichment #wildpony #cobsofinstagram #cob #cornwall #cornish #clickertraining

Force-free, positive reinforcement training to help feral rescue pony, Finn, learn to have a headcollar put on for the first time. Hill Pony Resources

Penny practicing her stay and recall to target. This is a super handy behaviour and can be used for so many different activities (agility, basic care, walks, free jumping, etc).

Walking together to relax and decompress ☺️🖤.

Here's Penny learning to play fetch. This is a fun and enriching game that can build confidence with novel objects and doesn't have to require lots of movement, so it's great for horses like Penny who are super clever and keen but have physical limitations due to conditions.

Here's Grace beginning to learn the game 'find the next cone'. Grace is super smart and a quick learner so it's important to keep her mind stimulated. This game can be used for the basis of lots of other force-free agility activities. 😊🖤

Force-Free Hoof Care

May having her hoof rasped a little bit for the first time! We're now working on balance, duration and relaxation before she can have her first proper trim (and still working towards rasping her back feet). This has all been done completely force-free, at liberty with positive reinforcement and this is HUGE progress from the untouchable, scared, feral pony I met last summer. Her awesome caregivers Haye Cornwall are doing amazing! I now have spaces available for new clients! If you are interested, send me a message or see website: https://mollyizzyponies.wixsite.com/aimhorsemanship?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaawVbf48-xOcglk7tQA4HZ6iRTcI5RJNOFtUNA8lPlrSZ3BG9c0g8Uxv7c_aem_ZJWjWawXucdKOtM0jiHtgg

Penny's physical conditions mean that she's a bit more restricted in what behaviours she can do and what is ethical to train. Most of Penny's training is co-operative care and spending time together giving her scratches or going for little walks. But there's always opportunities to get creative with positive reinforcement and train something fun and enriching.